


On a Wednesday in a Café

by bromomethene



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: F/F, I'm not really sure if this should have a trigger warning, because this is mostly fluff, but don't get me wrong it is mostly fluff because apparently that's all I'm capable of writing, but it kind of has mentions of abuse so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11850372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bromomethene/pseuds/bromomethene
Summary: Based off Taylor Swift's "Begin Again".Because it gives me feels. A lot of them.Or, the one in which Camila makes Lauren want to try again. With the right person this time. Her.





	On a Wednesday in a Café

**Author's Note:**

> so I wish I had a good excuse to why this is 84 years late but...I really don't. 
> 
> so I apologise profusely. like really badly. 
> 
> but I hope you guys enjoy this anyway and hopefully I have another one coming up kind of soon?

Lauren took a deep breath in, as she stared critically at herself in the mirror. 

It had been a long, long time since she'd worn her favourite combat boots. 

They were solid black leather, laces loosely tied and heels scuffed from years of use. They were her prized possession. Her grandma had first gotten them for her as a joke when she came out, and since then, and even more so since the death of her grandma, they had held a special place in her heart. 

He had...deemed them as too "dykey". Not girly enough. Not the kind of girl he had wanted to date. 

She remembers vaguely the first time she had worn them in front of him. He had looked at her, scoffed, and smacked her hard around the head, before snarling at her to, "Take those things off. You look like a dyke." 

And then, when she pointed out that she was indeed, technically a dyke, as she was bisexual, he had hit her hard across the face thrice more. 

Her sexuality had never been mentioned again. 

 

__________________

 

Finally conceding defeat to her hair, and accepting the fact that she had to leave soon, Lauren shrugged her green shirt on top of her white tank top, tied her laces, even though that was kind of pointless because they always seemed to come undone anyway, and left. Or tried to. 

Because god, was Lauren jittery. She was so, so nervous. She could barely turn the lock of her own door, her hands were shaking that much, and it was even worse when she tried to put her headphones in. 

It was just, she hadn't been on a date in a really, really long time. 

He had always seemed to prefer to just stay at home. "Away from where anyone could look at you," he had said. "They don't need to know what kind of garbage I'm banging now, how retarded and ugly you are. Please, I'd rather not be ashamed like that." 

At the time, she had just bowed her head, taking insult after insult, green eyes cloudy with unshed tears, cheeks sore and bruised from the beatings she had received earlier that day. 

She used to meet up with Normani and Ally as regularly as he would let her, and see how they screwed their faces up in sympathy, because there was nothing else they could do. Because they knew Lauren would never ever let them do anything. She was too scared. 

Just in case they got hurt too. 

But, when Lauren and him had broken up, they were two of the happiest people Lauren had ever seen, jumping for joy at the news and squealing excitedly, before awkwardly clearing their throats, both muttering a pointless sorry, because they weren't really, with their lips still upturned a little because they just couldn't help it. 

And, a year later as they were sat in the library, studying for finals, they were the ones to push Lauren to take that first step, to agree to go out with the sweet, clumsy brunette with the heart of gold, whose tall blonde friend called Dinah had shoved forwards, right into Lauren. And then, she had proceeded to so shyly and politely ask her out, with the cheesiest, but most endearing pick up line Lauren had ever heard. And, even if she didn't feel one hundred percent ready, Lauren knew that not going out with the brunette would be a huge mistake. 

("Lauren. When will you ever feel ready for something like this? Never. You've just got to do it.") 

 

__________________

 

And now, back to today. The day that her and Camila had agreed to meet up on. 

They'd been texting for nearly a week, and Lauren liked her more and more each day. 

She was funny, and witty and easy to talk to, and kind and beautiful and selfless and just...perfect. 

Plus, as an extra, it turns out that Normani and Dinah knew each other quite well, which was just a tad too much of a coincidence for Lauren to believe that her and Camila meeting that day was fate. 

Lauren tried shake off the nerves by attempting to lose herself in the lyrics of the song playing in her ears. It was one of her favourites, actually. 

She vaguely remembers trying once, to get to know him better, for him to get to know her better. She talked to him for all of six and a half minutes, before he had pushed her up against a wall and knocked her head against it twice for being annoying and pissing him off, and angrily snarled at her to go make food instead. 

She guessed he just didn't understand this song. 

Thoughts plagued Lauren's head as she walked, steps getting slower and slower and each question arose in her mind. What if she messed up? What if Camila found her boring, or didn't want to talk to her? 

This was Lauren's chance to start again. Without him. She just...really couldn't mess up. 

 

___________________

 

It was a short walk to the restaurant, really. Lauren usually liked to be on time, needed it, even. She needed the normality of it all, the preparation time, the time to get out of the house and just...think for a while. 

The last time Lauren had been out on a date had been years ago, even with him. And it had been a disaster. 

 

____________________

 

Lauren had been waiting for a while. 42 minutes to be exact. But it wasn't unusual at all, really. He was usually at least an hour and a half late, and the one time she had ever brought it up or asked him about it, she had been promptly beat, and reminded that she was an ungrateful bitch and deserved nothing less. 

But this time, he had sworn. He had promised he would be there. 

The waiter had approached Lauren again, clearly annoyed at her for filling up a table that could be used for other customers and not buying anything other that the water bottle Lauren had being periodically sipping to make herself look busy, and to give her hands something to do. 

"Are you ready to order now, Ma'am?" She had asked, tone rising threateningly. 

Lauren sighed, realising that she couldn't stay here all evening waiting for something that, she thought sadly, was probably never going to happen. 

"Umm...I'll j-just. T-take the b-bill now please." She replied timidly, head bowed and eyes submissively trained on the ground. 

The waiter gritted her teeth, but nevertheless came back with the check, which Lauren paid. Standing up from the booth, Lauren walked to the door, each step making her heart sink further and further into her chest. 

As Lauren had arrived back in the apartment, she found him passed out, completely drunk, another girl still on his dick. 

Yeah. That hadn't been a good day. 

 

_______________________

 

Lauren shivered just remembering it, so, as she stopped outside the cafe, she had fully expected to be waiting there a while for the younger latina to arrive. If she showed up at all. 

To her immense surprise though, Camila was sitting in the cafe already. Lauren felt her insides heat up in pleasant surprise and smiled shyly at the other girl. 

Camila stood up immediately, huge grin apparent on her face, waving frantically at Lauren. 

Lauren walked over to her. 

"Lo." Camila said, greeting her with a warm hug, arms wrapped tight around Lauren's waist, that made Lauren tingle from head to toe. And then, smiling to herself as if she had to remind herself to slow down, she took a deep breath, "Hi. You look beautiful." 

Lauren flushed a pretty pink. 

"T-Thank you." 

Camila smiled fondly at the green eyed girl's shyness. It was endearing, and quite literally the cutest thing she had ever seen. 

Shaking her head to clear it a bit, she said, "Here. Come sit down." As she did so, pulling out the chair opposite her own for Lauren to sit in, pushing the other girl in and waiting till she was settled before sitting down in her own. 

Lauren didn't think Camila knew how nice that was. To be put before others, in any scenario, but particularly a romantic one, was something Lauren had never really experienced and the butterflies in Lauren's stomach were suddenly much more restless. 

She was just, so polite. So caring. There was something about her manners which just made Lauren really, really happy. Cherished, even. 

 

And so her and Camila made a bit of small talk as they waited for the waiter to come and ask them for their order. 

Lauren didn't even need to really look at the menu. She knew she was getting a salad. It was reliable, and easy. 

And what she had always been told to eat, by him, because, "You're too fat, Lauren. How do you expect anyone to be attracted to you if you're not skinny? No wonder I can't get a boner around you half the time when you look like a whale." 

Lauren blinked away the memory. 

But, then again, the pasta looked really great. Maybe she could just- no. She reminded herself. 

But then Camila said, apparently catching her uncertainty, and asked, "Hey. Do you maybe want to half something?" 

Lauren nodded timidly. "Yeah. Yeah I think I would like that." 

"Great!" Camila replied. "What do you want to share then?" 

Lauren shrugged, before hesitating and saying, "Well, umm. I was going to have the salad." 

Camila tutted playfully, about to make a joke, before she paused for a second to take in Lauren's face, clearly catching her insecurities, and reached across the table to tilt Lauren's head up gently with two fingers, to make sure she was looking the green eyed girl in her beautiful gems. 

"First of all, woah." Camila breathed. "Your eyes are beautiful." 

Lauren chuckled slightly, head attempting to duck down as she blushed, before Camila simply very softly pushed it back up again and continued. 

"And second of all. Order whatever you want. I need you to eat, Lauren." Camila said urgently. "You look a little pale, Lo. All skin and bones. You're still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen but haven't you been eating?" 

"I h-have." Lauren stuttered. 

Lauren was confused. Camila wanted her to...eat more? As opposed to less? She wanted her, the way she was? She had...never been told that before. It was a little unbelievable to be honest. 

Camila tilted her head to the side, as if trying to figure something out, perhaps what Lauren was thinking and asked her, "What do you really want to eat, Lauren? Not what you think you should eat, but what you really want to eat?"

Lauren mumbled something incoherently. 

"What was that, beautiful?" 

"Is- Is the pasta okay?" Lauren tried again. 

Camila grinned. 

"Yeah. That's perfect, Lauren. How about we share that and the chicken? Is that okay?"

Lauren nodded, to show her consent. 

"Great. I'm proud of you, Lauren."

Camila had heard about the green eyed girl's past from Dinah, who had heard it from Normani and Ally. 

(Those girls and their big mouths, she swears.) 

And so, she acknowledges the big step that Lauren just took. She was proud of her. 

Lauren practically lit up under Camila's gaze, and realised that actually, she was kind of proud of herself too. It was part one of leaving that part of her life behind. 

As the food arrived, they chatted a little more, about their likes and dislikes, pet peeves and what made them happy, where they wanted to be in 10 years, their families, their jobs. The list went on, and conversation came easily. 

Camila wanted to know everything about Lauren. 

She wanted to know enough to make her happy, to look after her like he never had and then even more than that.

Tuning back in, she smiled as Lauren started talking about her dogs, Dash and Leo, hands moving expressively as she talked and eyes shining brighter than ever, and carried on falling for the girl sitting next to her. 

 

-/ 

 

Lauren thought the date was going well. Kind of. 

And Camila, god. Camila was perfect. 

And she was polite and caring and kind and honest and...laughing at Lauren's jokes. And it was magical. 

Before Camila, he'd kind of just laughed at her, instead of with her. But, this. This was so different. She didn't even know it could feel like this, light and happy and care free. And she loved it. 

She loved feeling like this. And she loved that Camila made her feel like this.

"And then, and then Dinah poured the drink all over my lap and said to me, Chancho. You had better ask that girl out." Camila finished her sentence, giggling uncontrollably as she told her story. 

Smile faltering for a second, Camila asked gently, "Lauren, are you okay?" 

Snapping out of it quickly, Lauren smiled back. 

"Yeah. Yeah. Sorry I j-just. Got distracted." Lauren said nervously, kind of expecting some sort of reprimand for not paying attention, and was surprised when Camila not only didn't say anything about it, but laughed and said, "It's okay, Lo. I promise. It happens to me too all the time!" 

Reassured and now considerably more relaxed, Lauren sighed in relief. 

"So, why don't we talk about music for a bit. I heard from Normani that you loved it." 

"You- you talked to Normani? I didn't know you knew her!" Lauren exclaimed in surprise. 

At that, Camila kind of cringed sheepishly, which was really a complete surprise for Lauren, who had been the shyer one this whole time, was a bit surprising to see, considering how bouncy and happy the other girl always seemed to be. 

"I- umm...I don't really. I talked to Dinah and got her to talk to Normani because I knew you two were friends. I just wanted to ask her some basic things about you, so I could plan a date that you would enjoy." 

Lauren shook her head in disbelief. 

"I can't believe you did all that for me." 

Now it was Camila's turn to shake her head, but hers was a mixture of disbelief and frustration. 

"God, Lauren. I don't think you realise how amazing you are. I wanted everything to be perfect for you. You deserve it." 

The older latina's heart was practically leaping out of her chest, as she blushed heavily and barely managed to mumble a, "Thank you." 

Camila chuckled fondly, as if she expected Lauren to be as shy as she was. 

"So. Music then? Who are some of your favourite artists?" 

Lauren's eyes practically lit up and she immediately sat up straighter as she began to ramble about some of her favourite bands, and artists, and songs and types of music. 

Camila listened intently, entranced by the other girl's passion and enthusiasm. 

"-and James Taylor! I love him! I have all of his records!" 

"All of them? No way." 

Lauren grinned excitedly," Yes, way." 

Camila's eyes went wide. "No way. I've never met anyone who has as many James Taylor records as you! I love him too!" 

"Yeah well, I've been collecting for a long time now. Maybe you could come over and check them out some time?" 

Camila stared at Lauren in awe, kind of double checking what she had said in her head to be sure. 

Lauren took the silence as a bad thing. 

"Or-or not! You don't have to! I promise, I wasn't implying you had to do anything and I'm so sorry if I pressured you, I didn't mean to and-" 

Camila interrupted Lauren for the first time that day. 

"Lauren, Lauren. Relax. I was just surprised. I would honestly love to." 

Lauren blushed. "Oh." 

Camila laughed heartily. 

 

________________

 

Hours later, after Camila had surprised her over and over- going to an animal rescue centre, because she had heard Lauren loved animals, christmas shopping for their respective families, and stopping at a little coffee stand to get hot chocolate, Camila was walking Lauren home. 

("Camila, you don't need to walk me home.")

("Lauren, please. I want to. I want to make sure you get home safe, I would never forgive myself if you didn't. Besides, this way, I get to spend more time with you," Camila grinned cheekily.)

Usually as Lauren walked, and went past streets and houses and apartment blocks, she reminisced about how things used to be. 

Behind this house was the first time he hit me. Here, he had left her on the side of the road for the night and didn't let her back in the house. There, he shoved her so hard into the lamppost she had to go to hospital. 

Lauren was so close to bringing it up. To talking about it. 

But she didn't want to. But this wasn't like that. Her fears were being replaced by a safe, warm feeling. Her sadness replaced with happiness. Her bad memories were being replaced by good memories. With Camila. 

Laughing so hard you get a stitch next to the post office. Rosy blushes whenever Camila called her beautiful or smart or kind or...anything really. Shy, gentle kisses on cheeks next to every green car seen. 

("We're starting a tradition Lauren, it's only fair.")

"-and usually we do presents after breakfast, but this year Sofi was so excited she couldn't wait, and god, the look on her face was so precious, you should've seen it, Lauren." 

Lauren nodded eagerly in agreement, because from what she had heard from Camila, Sofi was an absolute angel and she was looking forwards to someday meeting her, before looking down at their carefully intertwined hands, fingers laced together and warm palms pressed together, remembering how Camila had shyly asked for her permission after they had left the café, which was pretty much the cutest thing ever in Lauren's opinion. She decided no. She wasn't going to talk about it. She wasn't. 

And when Camila had walked her to her door, and given her one more kiss on the cheek, and another lingering one to her forehead- 

("Because I don't kiss on the first date, god, Lauren!" Camila winked.) 

-Lauren knew that it was possible that Camila was everything she had always wanted. Always dreamed about. 

Lauren had thought all love did was break, and burn, and end. 

But this was her new start. With someone better, with someone who would never hurt her, and treat her like a princess and love her with everything she had. With Camila. This was her chance to Begin Again.

**Author's Note:**

> if you want to come ask me questions or give me prompts or anything you can come talk to me on my tumblr @bromomethene or on wattpad at @bromomethene (what can I say I'm a simple girl). I hope you guys enjoyed this and are having a great day :)


End file.
